7 Oct 2015

And so it begins. In his new autobiography, Reds legend Steven Gerrard predicts that Liverpool will lose Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona or Real Madrid 'in a 'few seasons', but the campaign to nab the Brazilian has already started, and new reports suggest Los Blancos are actively trying to sign LFC's most exciting player.

* The Spanish giants considered making a bid over the summer, but decided to hold off for now.

I've already accepted that Coutinho will leave Anfield sooner rather than later. Even with Jurgen Klopp at the helm, the chance to play alongside the likes of Ronaldo et al is too enticing to pass up.

Barcelona are also interested in signing 'sensational' Coutinho, and if both clubs come calling, then it's hard to see Coutinho staying at Anfield.

And who can blame him? The Liverpool squad is filled with dross, and the unbalanced team is not set-up to get the best out of Coutinho.

I've highlighted Coutinho's inconsistency many times, but as Ronaldinho stated in May:

"Playing with great players makes you better, I know that. Not only would he win trophies with Barcelona, but playing with Neymar, Messi, Suarez, Iniesta, is going to make him a better player".

In my view, Coutinho's inconsistency is partly down to playing with comparatively inferior players. Sturridge aside, very few Liverpool players are on the same wavelength as the Brazilian, and that is bound to have an impact.

Irrespective of the reasons why, when it comes to the crunch, Coutinho's goals/assist ratio for Liverpool is simply not good enough, and minutes per goal/assist ratio amongst is significantly worse than comparable players (i.e. Silva, Hazard, Sanchez etc).

That said, Coutinho also cost significantly less than many of his expensive contemporaries, and overall, he is superb value for money.

According to the CIES Football Observatory, Coutinho is worth €55m, and if Real or Barca offer that kind of money, then Liverpool will be mad to turn it down, especially with Firmino in the squad.